It’s been a quiet offseason for the Yankees. I’ll admit I’ve been one of those positively vibrating to see the Yankees do something. Anything. Saturday afternoon, they made a move that, while it isn’t
on the scale of a Kyle Tucker signing, seems like a pretty smart one.
New York acquired Amed Rosario from the Washington Nationals on July 26th this year, knowing that the former Mets up-and-comer would reach free agency this offseason. Well, today, he’s back in New York for at least one more year. Jack Curry broke the news earlier this afternoon, with Jon Heyman providing the financials:
Rosario offers some positional versatility, spending considerable time at second and third base last season, with occasional stints in the outfield. Make no mistake, he ain’t winning a Gold Glove anytime soon (-7 OAA last season) but his defense is not why the Yankees brought him back.
Why, you ask? Why is this the move? Put simply: platoon splits. Rosario hits the stuffing out of left-handed pitching. For his career, he’s a .298/.336/.464 hitter against southpaws. In 2025, that line was .302/.328/.491. Rosario gives Aaron Boone a genuine offensive weapon to deploy against opposing lefty starters, or as a pinch-hit option when teams go to a portside slinger out of the ‘pen. With Ryan McMahon particularly susceptible to southpaws, Rosario should come in handy.
For what it’s worth, Rosario also showed in extremely limited action that putting on the pinstripes wasn’t too much for him. Despite only getting 33 at-bats in 16 appearances for the Yankes, Rosario’s production didn’t fall off a cliff, as the veteran managed 10 hits (.303 batting average) in that sporadic playing time.
At $2.5 million, the move is also not going to break the bank for GM Brian Cashman and the Yankees. And considering the Yankees had made noise the past week or so about the need to acquire more right-handed bats to enable them to take advantage of platoon splits, it seems like this is a pretty low-risk signing with the potential to pay off handsomely. Now keep it up, Cashman.
